Improvement in liquid meters



NA PETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D C.

*anni @fitte lifllililail G. S"`UAR'1, Ob1 CHIUOPEE, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 112,091, dated February 21, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN LIQUID METERS.

l The Schedule referred to in these Letters Fatent and making parE of the same.

To all '1t-luna `it indy concern:

13e it known that I, WILLIAM G. S'rian'r, of Chicopee, in the county ot' Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Liquid Meters; and I do hereby declare that the bllowing is a full, clear, and exact description. thereol',rei'e1ence being had to the accompanying drawing making a part oi' this spccitication and to the letters ol ret'erence marked thereon, in which- Figure 1, plate l, is a side view ot' my invention.

Figure .2, plate 2, is a horizontal section through line '15S of iig. 1.

Figure i is a vertical transverse section of the arm or trunnion of the. ineastu'ing-vessel or cylinder at line t', iig. 2, with ports closed. i

Figure 4 is a similar section at the saine place, with the ports open so that the water may pass into one end ot' the vessel and outat the other.

Figure 5 is another vertical sect-ion, at the same place, showing the ports open so that the water may pass in at the opposite end of the cylinder or vessel from that last described, and out at the othercnd; and

Figure 6, plate Il, is a horizontal section, showing the same. sliding weight and rod arranged in a diiferently-shaped measiu'ing-vessel, with a diaphragm.

My invention consists ot' a cylinder, or other con veuiently shaped measuring-vessel, having, at thc two opposite extremities, a threaded hole ina-de, into which is turned a threaded plug having` a neck or exterior' annular groove at the inner end.

A holo is made horizontallythrough the plug, and a rod, having a protuberance or collar with a similar neck or exterior annular groove thereon, made near each end of said rod, passes through or operates within the holes in said plugs, the length ofthe rod being a little longer than the distance between the two outer extremities ot' said plugs.

A short piece ot" elastic tubing, or any tubing that is sutliciently ilexible and pliable, is secured to the neck or groove ot' each collar by means .of a picco ol' wire wound tightly thereon, the other end ot' the tubing being secured, in a similar manner, to the neck or groove oi'the corresponding plug. This arrangement et tubing serves as a check, opemting, instead of a stelling-homie prevent the water which may beavithin thel vessel from passing out through the orilice. in the plug, through which the rod moves, and obviates the friction which would resultin the use ot' a stutting-bnx.

A sliding weight, made in two parts, with two cupleathers placed with their bases toward each other, and a metallic disk between, or a diaphragm secured between the two parts, and a horizontal hole through the center, ismade to slide to and fro upon the rod between the two collars, and the two parts of said weight are secured together by a bolt and nuts, or in other convenient manner, with a small packing secured within the weight and around the rod totprevent any water from passing from one side of the weight to the other through the central oritice. and between the weight and the rod upon which .it slides.

The measuring-vessel itself is hung upon trunnions or arms, and is equally balanced thereon, having two passages through one ot' the trunnions, each communicating with one end of the interior ofthe measuringcylinder.

t)She construction of the. measuring-cylinder, with the passages cxtcndinfir from each end and through the arm or trunnion, andthe arrangement fornlternately changing the communications between the same, and the entrance and exit-ports, is similar to many of the oscillating engines heretofore made, and constitutes, in itself', no part ot' my invention, with the exception of the construc-tiongot the barrel containing the entrance and exit-ports, and the suspension of the Whole between centers, as will be hereinafter more fully explained; for, instead of hanging the cylinder upon the trunnions in such manner that the whole weight bears directly upon lthe periphery of the trnnnions, or of the shell or barrel which surrounds it; thereby causing .much friction and consequent wear of the parts, especially in a full-sized operating meter, in which the utmost sensitiveness of theinstrument and accuracy of operation are required, as well as no iucousiderable weight, I hang the oscillating measuring-vessel between two conical center points, one or both of which is made adjustable by having said points made upon the ends oi' threaded screws operating in correspondingly-thrcaded holes made in standards, each of the said points entering a small cavity made in the end of each trunnion, as will 'oe hereinafter explained.

That others skilled in the art may be able to make and use my invention, I will proceed to explain its construction and the mode ot' its operation.

In the drawing- A represents the cylinder or measuring-vessel, having the end caps K secured thereto by screws or boit-s o' passing through the flanges E, and these caps have a central hole made therein, a part of which is threaded to receive the threaded plug G, which is turned in tightly to its shoulder or collar c, to make a watertightjoint.

These plugs C have a central horizontal hole made therein, ot' sutcient size to permit the rod B to move freely therein, andthe inner ends of said'plngs have either an annular projecting tiange, a', thereon, or an annular groove, a", or neck, to which to secure one end of the short elastic or flexible tube c, by winding a wire tightly around the same.

The rod l5 is a little longer than the distance between the two outside ends ofthe plugs C 0,'and has two protnberances or annular collars, b and 11', thereon, one oi' which may be made solid with the rod, the other being made separate and secured thereto by a set-screw.

rlhese collars or protuberances have either analinular flange, b', or channel c', and the' other end of the elastic or iiexible tube c is secured thereto by a wire wound tightly around the outside, and both ends of said tube are so tightly secured that no water can pass from the outside of the tube to the inside at either end.'

It will be seen that, by this arrangement, no packing is required around the rod B, within the plug C, the rod being free to operate within the plug even without any friction therein, and yet no water within the cylinder can pass out through the oritice in the plug. j j

lhis piston or sliding weight is made of' metal, sufticiently heavy, in two parts N N, and of cylindrical form, each being placed within a cup-leather, d', and both in a position with the bases of the cup-leathers toward each other, with the circular metallic disk between them, and with the open end of each cup-leather toward either end of the cylinder.

The whole is secured together by a tubular bolt passing through the center, and a threaded nut, o, turned upon one end ofthe bolt, andl another shorter threaded bolt with a head, e, upon one end, and turned into a threadedcavity in the end ofthe tube s, an annular-shaped packing, made of leather, soap-stone, or other suitable material, being first introduced into a recess between the bolt e and the tube s.

A central hole is made through thebolts s and c', and the rod B is inserted therein, and the packing c is adjusted to the desired degree of contact with the rod by turning the nut c in, more orlcss, against the packing.

Instead ot' securing the parts ot' the piston together', as above described, one of the parts AN may have a cen-- trai cylindrical projection with an external thread made `thereon, and the other part N may have a corresponding central cylindrical cavity with an internal thread, and the two be screwed together against the bases ot' the cupleathers and the disk d, a hole. being made through both for the central projecting part of the weight which secures its two parts together; or any other convenient method may be employed to secure the two parts together.

After the weight is placed on the rod the other collar, b or b, as the case may be, is also placed upon the rod and secu-red in its place by a set-screw.

The passages f andf may be cast in the cylinder, extending from the middle toward each end, and communicating with the interior of the cylinder at each end; and at the middle, where the two said passages open or extend outward, there is a faced projection, f, to which is bolted, by means ot' the screws or bolts y', the arm or trunnion V, having a central partition, V', with the passage f andj" on either side, coinciding within the passages fand f' in the cylinder.

rlhe outer end of" said arm V terminates iu a tapered plug, which is made to fit its shell or barrel h perfectly, by a ground joint or itting; and the barrel -Zb is prevented from turning with the plug or arm V by inserting the square part F into a corresponding square socket in the standard H, or by confining the barrel so that it will not turn with its plug in any other convenient manner, 'takin g care, however, to leave the barrel free from supprxt, so that it may always be concentric with its plug.

lhe arm or plug V, with the barrel h secured thereon, constitutes in itself the common two-way cock,

well known and extensively used in hydraulics, and

the whole arranged with va cylinder, is shown i y koscillz'tting engines, as, foruinstance, Iin the patent granted' to Sprenkle and Basford, Deceniberr22, 1857,

and in others; butin cases where this arrangement has been fused the greater portion of the weight of the cylinder bears upon the lower side of the trunnion, within its shell or barrel, so that the tendency is to wear off that side of the'trunnion and barrel, and soon the joint would leak, and be worthless, in so sensitive and delicate an instrument as a liquid meter; but -I entirely obviate that difficulty by merely confining the shell tso that it will not turn with its plug, and suspending the ,cylinder or vessel at the vert-ical ends of the trunnions, between center points.

Hung or suspended in this manner, the bearing and 'wear are equal all aroiind the trunnion, within the shell h and should it work loose at any time, by slightly loosening the center pointat the end of the plug V, and correspondingly tighten-"mg the other center point at the opposite side of the cylinder. p

In lig. l, plate 1- G represents a standard near each end of the cylinder or vessel, in each of which is hung, by a pivot, a weight, G, having a corner at x, and at I is a shoulder or stop, upon which the cylinder or the plug C strikes when .either end of the cylinder or vessel is forced down, and when in this position, as shown in fig. l, the corner of the weight rests upon the end ot' the rod B, seen protruding from the plug G.

The stops I may be cushioned with any elastic material, and may be placed in any convenient position either above or beneath the cylinder.

At k, figs. 4 and 5, is represented the entrance-pipe, and at L the exit-pipe, which are alternately placed in communication with either end ot' the interior of the cylinder by the vibrations of the cylinder in a vertical direction.

The operation ofthe device is as follows:

It' the cylinder is in the position shown in fig. 1 and the water be permitted to pass in at the entrancepipe 7;, it will passon through the passage f into the `small space in the cylinder, between its end and the sliding weight or piston N, the position of the lat part or partitionV being shown in tlg. 4.

The pressure ofthe water in this space against the weight forcing it up and along the rod B, the water eutering the annular space between the periphery of the metallic part N, and the cup-leather d pressing the edge or rim of the leather outward into contact with the interior surface of the cylinder, vand preventing any leakage 'of water past the piston, between it and the cylinder.

As the weight or piston N passes along upon the rod, it forces out the water which has filled the cylinder through the passage ffand exit-pipe k', until the water is all expelled from the cylinder upon that side of the weight, or nearly so, and the piston has nearly completed its stroke, sliding upon the rod.

As the pistou approaches the end of the cylinder, it impinges against the collar or protuberance 11"', and moves the rod with it a little, until the other end of the rod b is drawn from under the weight G into the plug, the other end then protruding. Y

lhe weight of the piston N then causes that end of the cylinder to drop, th protruding end T/"f of the rod; as it passes down, forcing the hanging weight G at thatend back, the weight dropping back to its position again over the rod as soon as the rod is down.

This downward movement of this end of the cylinder opens communication between the entrance-pipe 4l; andthe interior of this end of the cylinder, through the passage f', while the passage f becomes-the exitpassage for the water which is in the cylinder upon that side of the piston.

The position of the 'dat part or partition V'of the plug being shown in fig. 5, the water flows in through the entrance-pipe 'It and passage j", and the pistou N is forced up and along the rod B, forcing the water in front otit out through the passage f and exit-pipe 7;'.

As the pistou approaches the other end of the cylinder it impinges againt the collar or protnberance b, and moves the rod along suciently to draw the protruding end from under the weight G, forcing out the opposite end, and the weight ofthe piston causes that end ot' the cylinder' to fall, bringing the lat part or partition Y of the plug or trnnnion again to the position shown in fig. 4, and so on.

By knowing the exact amount ofwater expelled from the cylinder between any two pulsations, any proper and desirable connection may be made between any` part ofthe cylinder or vibrating parts', and an index.

One important object to be attained in the construction of a liquid meter of this description is,'that the measuring-vessel should be as long as maybe convenient, in order that the sliding weight or piston may make a long stroke between every two pulsa-tions, for by that means, at the end of' each stroke,the weight is thrown further than the central point of suspension ot' lthe vessel, and as this distance is lengthcned and the leverage increased the end of the vessel containingr the weight will drop much quicker and suore promptlyto its lowest position, and the changes of the vessel from one inclined position to the other, and the accompanying changing operations of the meter are made in'n'ch more rapidly than it' the length ot' the vessel and the consequent stroke of.' thepiston were shorter, using the same amount oi" weight.

Instead oi'a cylinder any other vessel of greater dialneter nthan 'the piston may be used by making the vessel'iu halves, and secured together by bolts o passing through lianges E, as shown in iig. (3, and instead ot' cup-leathers, using a flexible diaphragm, x', the edge of which is secured between the two. iianges E,

while the center' is secured between the two parts N of the sliding weight or piston, as shown in fig. 6. i

Whatever may be the shape of' the vessel, the arrangement ot the passages f and f and entrance and exit-ports l: and It', andthe manner of changing com, munication between the interior of each end of the` vessel and the entrance and exit-ports, is precisely sin; ilar to that shown in the oscillating-engines already before mentioned, with the exception ot' the different construction of the barrel or shell ofthe trnnniou, and the suspension of the vessel between center points, which are both valuable features in my invention as applied to a liquid meter, as great wear of' the parts and consequent speedy derangement of the instrument is, by my peculiar construction of these portions, entirely obviated. n

I 1am also aware that diaphragms of various forms have been made heretofore, Aand I do not claim the saine irrespective ot' my adaptation ot' it to a liquid meter.

Having thus described my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire to Asecure by Letters Patent, is-

i1. The metal plate a, arranged in combination with the sliding weights NN and cup-leather (l'll', substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. rlhe combination and arrangement of the-rod B, sliding weights N N, and exible tubing o with the parts it envelops, substantially as described.

y 3. rlhe flexible tubing o c, sliding weightsNN, plugs C O, and cup-leathers d' d', all combined and arranged substantially as shown and for the purpose described.

4. The vessel V, suspended between two centers or points y, operating and adjustable within barrel h. all arranged to perform the function herein set forth:

Witnesses: WILLIAM G. STUART.

T. A. CURTIS, J. Wns'r WAGNER. 

